 Solution

The minimal polynomial $m_{\beta }(t)$ of the linear map $\beta$ is the unique monic polynomial of smallest degree satisfying $m_{\beta }(\beta )=0$. An annihilating polynomial exists because the powers $I,\beta ,{\beta }^2,\dots$ lie in the finite-dimensional vector space $\mathrm{End}(V)$ and are therefore linearly dependent. If two monic annihilating polynomials had the same least degree, their difference would be an annihilating polynomial of smaller degree, so they coincide.

Write $m_{\beta }(t)=a_0+tq(t)$. If $a_0\ne 0$, evaluation at the linear map gives $\beta q(\beta )=-a_{0}I$. Since $\beta$ commutes with every polynomial in itself, this is a two-sided inverse:Conversely, if $\beta$ is an invertible linear map and $a_0=0$, then $m_{\beta }(t)=tq(t)$ and multiplication of $\beta q(\beta )=0$ by ${\beta }^{-1}$ gives $q(\beta )=0$, contradicting the defining least degree. Thus invertibility is equivalent to a nonzero constant term of the minimal polynomial. In the zero-dimensional case the minimal polynomial is $1$ and the same conclusion holds.